JaBbA's Hut

Born Riley B. King in Mississippi in 1925. May you and Lucille keep us moving for many more years.

Not that anyone who cares doesn't already know this, but...

BROWNS BEAT RAVENS 20-3!

Jamal Lewis, he of the 500 Rushing yards against the Browns last year....57 yards!!! He never got past the linebackers.

A complete victory, in all phases of the game. A thing of beauty.

This morning WCPN/NPR ran a report on people in the Adopt-a-highway program - specifically, the fact that the Lorain County Witches were maintaining a stretch of US 58. They interviewed a state official who stated that the Pagan groups tended to be very good about keeping their committments to maintaining the highways, including a Toledo Area Pagan group.

On the other hand, the KKK adopted a stretch of highway in southern Ohio, then never bothered to actually do it. So their sign got yanked.

Typical.

JaBbA says way to go, Pagans!

There's an old concept of the 'truth-teller' - someone who speaks the truth, even when it's uncomfortable, or even dangerous.

Bill Cosby is using his stature and the respect he's garnered over the years to become America's truth-teller.

"They think they're hip," the entertainer said. "They can't read; they can't write. They're laughing and giggling and they're going nowhere."

In his remarks in May at a commemoration of the anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education desegregation decision, Cosby denounced some blacks' grammar and said those who commit crimes and wind up behind bars "are not political prisoners."

Cosby elaborated Thursday on his previous comments in a talk interrupted several times by applause. He castigated some blacks, saying that they cannot simply blame whites for problems such as teen pregnancy and high school dropout rates.

THe only problem is that he was talking to today's black parents - and the problem isn't just in the black community. I see plenty of white, hispanic, multi-colored kids acting the same way. We're losing a generation, and Bill is unafraid to tell the us about it.

[The article's been sitting on my desk for a few days...I'm a little behind. Tennyson, in the Ode on the death of the Duke of Wellington:

Truth-teller was our England’s Alfred named;
Truth-lover was our English Duke;
Whatever record leap to light
He never shall be shamed.

for whatever it's worth]

Cleveland Bishop Anthony Pilla has told Cleveland Diocese priests that communion is not the place for politics.

The battles for human life and dignity and for the weak and vulnerable should be fought not at the Communion rail, but in the public square, in hearts and minds, in our pulpits and public advocacy, in our consciences and communities

I disagree with Pilla on many things. But I've always respected him. This is why.

The Cassini spacecraft successfully entered Saturn's orbit today. The early pictures are black-and-white, but are simply amazing - perfectly defined rings with "density waves" caused by gravitational pulls.

This is why Nasa needs to be funded - not so we can put military bases on the moons. What we will learn from this expedition promises to be fundamental and ground-breaking.

Despite the very un-Catholic warnings of American Bishops, A priest at John Carroll University outside of Cleveland, OH told WCPN this morning that he would welcome either John Kerry or George W. Bush to campus to speak.

This is both very courageous and a no-brainer. Priests are supposedly taught in seminary that judgement is reserved for God, and that it is the priests job to offer confession and absolution, and to offer communion to anyone who approaches with penitence. The idea that the leaders of the Catholic church would support the idea that Kerry could be denied communion is incredibly offensive, and it's good to see some priests speaking out.

UPDATE - I messed up the link to John Carroll. Fixed now.